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For "Schitt's" Fans

My favorite scene in "Schitt's Creek" (so far) concerns Alexis and her boyfriend, Mutt (Season Two).

Alexis is continuously at war with herself--this is a by-product of being human--so, when she says, "I think it's great how we can just be in silence together," we know she actually means the opposite.

"It's wonderful, our not-talking" becomes--obviously--a form of talking.

When Mutt won't engage, Alexis loses her cool. "I think we can see that we both need to change here," she says. "I need to talk less and listen more, and you need to talk more and listen less."

A sensible, elegant solution--but people aren't always willing to be treated as pawns. Mutt might recognize the logic behind Alexis's proposal, but he can't rearrange furniture within his psyche just to become a more-acceptable boyfriend.

What's especially sharp about this moment: Mutt conveys his objection without words. Form matches content. Mutt's wordlessness says: "I'm just going to continue to be who I am, and this is the nicest way I can imagine to convey what is on my mind."

Character revealed through dialogue (or, in this case, lack of dialogue). Wonderful--and a strange, hyper-detailed examination of the give-and-take that happens in any relationship, a kind of examination we're not used to seeing in a sitcom.

The writer--here--is the brilliant Daniel Levy, who has other inspired moments throughout the series. It's Levy who chooses to finesse an awkward discussion of pansexual habits with language we might use in a wine shop: "I drink red wine, yes. But sometimes I drink white wine. And sometimes I'll drink a red that started out as a rose.....and, you know, changed...."

Terrific. It's also Levy--I think--who chose to have two formerly-close frenemies sign off icily: "Best wishes. Warmest regards."

And Levy is fond of the show's biggest tic--a tic maybe too-often-employed--the Jonathan Franzen-esque use of "so." "I'll be leaving now, so." "That's not the way it will work, so." "I don't handle fever well, so." This aggressive, irritating use of "so"--demanding that the listener make a conclusion the listener may not want to make--is a big source of comedy in the show. Specifically, the listener's half-knowing obtuseness--"I'm NOT going to make that conclusion"--is the thing that generates the laughs.

Who says you can't see profundity in a silly comedy? Take that up with Emily Nussbaum. I'm--more and more--impressed by "Schitt's Creek."
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